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A truly excellent burger is never shrouded in mystery, nor should it be complicated. In fact, this is one of those culinary eureka! moments when simplicity is its own virtue.

Keep patty ingredients to a minimum ­— perhaps just a few flavour enhancements, but not so much that they elbow aside the taste of the meat — and try not to overwork the mixture as you form patties in your hands.

Whatever you do, resist the temptation to purchase pre-manufactured or, worse, frozen patties that are frequently glued together with binders and fillers to make them “juicy” and/or stuffed with seasonings that tend to make them salty.

With only a few tips and not a lot of preparation time, you too can create a signature marvel that will go down in burger history — if not at a burger museum someplace, then at least at your house.

For burger expertise this holiday weekend, we turned to the folks at Burgers on Main a.k.a. BoM, a relative newcomer to the national capital region with two locations: the original 79-seat restaurant and patio that opened on Main Street in Manotick in October 2011, and another with 86 seats downstairs, 46 in a lounge upstairs and more on the patio, that opened on Somerset Street near Bank Street in February.

The man behind all this simplicity is chef/owner Jonathan Crow, trained at Algonquin College in 1989, who’s been working in kitchens at steak houses, brew pubs, and as sous chef as far away as General Motors Place in Vancouver (now Rogers Arena) before returning here three years ago as chef at the former Manotick Prime.

“I was trained in French cuisine,” Crow says, “but I always felt a really good burger would go over well in Ottawa.

“So our first site was really about affordability. It’s good value, good food. It’s nothing fancy, I just thought it was time to do something simple.”

We’re not claiming BoM has the best burgers hands-down in Ottawa, there being so many excellent joints in town with myriad toppings and embellishments to suit every taste. They are, however, pretty darned good, especially paired with the BoM Signature Sauce (a Cajun-flavoured mayo) that doubles as a dipper for house-made fries.

Oh, and don’t forget the local beers such as Kichesippi and HogsBack on tap.

Beef arrives daily in 25-pound sacks from The Village Butcher in Manotick, where butcher James Watt gets his meat from O’Brien Farms in Winchester. “I figured if I was going to open a burger joint then I wasn’t going to use generic beef from a grocery store,” Crow says.

“I mean, why would someone come to me for the same stuff? I found local beef to be so much better — it doesn’t shrink as much, it keeps its shape. We do add a little bit of panko breadcrumbs to hold the patties together, as well as Dijon and Worcestershire for flavour. But it’s not a lot of panko — maybe only two cups to 25 pounds of beef, and that’s not much.

Crow prefers a ratio of 80-per-cent lean to 20-per-cent fat, keeping in mind that fat is flavour and a burger that’s too lean with be tasteless and dry.

At my house, for a special treat I ask my neighbourhood butcher to custom grind sirloin, but you needn’t get that extravagant for everyday fare. Most often I buy medium-grade ground from the butcher; at home I never use lean.

“We get the chuck cut, the hip and everything else, ground more coarse than in the grocery store for better mouth feel. And, it tastes like beef. Then we form the patties ourselves in a hand press that makes five, seven and eight-ounce portions. We season the beef, but only lightly,” Crow says.

“We’re definitely not as fancy as some others. I don’t offer 180 different burgers. We have eight beef burgers, a veggie, and two chicken burgers. So complicated is not where I’m at. The toppings are also straightforward; I’m not into seeing how many odd things you can pile on a burger.”

He also prefers a soft, egg-dough bun for taste and yielding texture. With burgers, he says, the star attraction should always be the meat.

Ten Commandments for Beefy Burger Bliss

1. Buy fresh beef from a butcher you trust. A good lean-to-fat ratio is 80-20 for optimal taste and texture.

2. Use minimal seasonings so the beef still tastes like beef.

3. When forming patties, keep the mixture cold because you do not want to break down fat with the heat of your hands. Do not overwork or pack patties too tightly, otherwise they will become pucks.

4. The ideal thickness of a patty is 3/4 inch (2 cm). Too thick, and the patty is difficult to cook properly; too thin, and the moisture is apt to escape and it will be dry.

5. Press you thumb in the centre of each patty to create an indentation. This prevents ballooning into a baseball shape as the patty grills.

6. Spray or lightly brush each patty with vegetable oil to prevent sticking to the grill. This is easier than coating the entire grill, and is less likely to cause flare-ups.

7. Grill at first on high heat to caramelize the outside, then move the patty to a cooler location. When the meat turns gray on the perimeter, it’s time to flip. Reduce heat, watch for beads of juice to bubble to the surface, then transfer to a cooler part of the grill (or bun rack) to finish.

8. You can turn a patty all you like, but flip it only once to keep those wonderful juices where they belong -- in the burger.

9. A burger is done when the internal temperature on an instant-read meat thermometer shows 160°F (71°C). If you do not own a thermometer, get one.

10. Hamburger buns should be soft. An egg bun has nice flavour, but the bun should never be the star of the show. This is not the time to show off artisan bread.

Cut eight, 5-inch (13-cm) squares of wax paper; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine all patty ingredients with your hands and mix well.

Shape generous 8-oz (225-g) patties by hand about 3/4-inch (2-cm) thick; do not pack too tightly. Place each on a square of wax paper. Press thumb indentation in the centre of each patty on one side (to prevent ballooning on the grill). Arrange patties on a single layer on a plate and refrigerate about 1 hour to set.

Preheat grill to high. Lightly brush patties with vegetable oil and grill starting on the hottest spot to sear, then moving patties to cooler area. When patties colour grey around the perimeter, flip once, reduce heat to medium and continue grilling until beads of juice appear on the surface. Move patties to cooler area (a bun rack works well) and cook until meat temperature on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the centre of patty shows 160°F (71°C).

Combine all sauce ingredients well; cover and refrigerate until needed.

Source: Jonathan Crow, Burgers on Main

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